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NEWS: END-OF-PROJECT-REPORT AVAILABLE!

Since 2016 we, as the consortium INTERLINK, have successfully developed the EUROTL Framework using Linked Data / Semantic Web technology.

We tested this in three testcases: in Germany, the Nordic Countries and the Netherlands.

You can read and download the results of our EUROTL framework via this website.

You can also read and download our OTL ontologies and used datasets for the testcases.

Via the website you can see our OTL-video as well.

We have disseminated our results from 2016 until today on different conferences in Europe and on the buildingSMART summit in Tokyo in October 2018. On this buildingSMART summit in October 2018 we received the buildingSMART 2018 Distinction award for our project.

You can find our presentations on our website.

We have now added our final report about the CEDR-INTERLINK EUROTL Approach with basic European Road OTL on our website as a so called ireport.

In the final report, you can read “How to start” with a gradual step-by-step hybrid transition to the use of this European Road OTL.

From now on we are working on adoption of our approach within the National Road Authorities. Several NRAS are interested to start with the CEDR-INTERLINK EUROTL Approach with basic European Road OTL.

We are also working on international standardisation of our principles, as laid down in the modelling and linking guide via the ISO and CEN. The CEN TC 442, WG 4, started with TF3: Building Information Modelling (BIM) - Modelling and linking between semantic ontologies, based on the INTERLINK MLG, especially the top level of the domain ontologies. We also have good hopes that we can introduce our modelling principles in the Dutch construction industry.

Any feedback, positive or negative, is welcome. If you are interested and need more information you can email or call us. See the website “contact” or the final report “About” for our email and phone numbers. We hope to keep in touch with you for the further adoption of the European Road OTL.

FINAL I-REPORT

The Final I-report is now available on our INTERLINK website with a chapter "HOW TO START".

INTERLINK winner of the buildingSMART award 2018

INTERLINK has been announced as the winner of the Special Distinction 2018 buildingSMART Special Award for its application of BIM in a major international road asset management project.

INTERLINK was selected to win the award for its digital ways of working within a two-year research project for the Conference of European Directors of Roads (CEDR).

The project, which started in September 2016, was conceived to explore how open information management and the application of open BIM-standards could benefit the delivery and operation of road infrastructure projects across Europe by using a European Road Object Type Library (OTL).

The aim is to enable the National Roads Authorities to digitally share data and experience to improve operations Europe-wide.

INTERLINK is now engaging with the National Roads Authorities of the 26 European members of CEDR via a series of roadshows, as well as industry representatives including contractors, academics, consultants and software developers, to share the results of the project.

Daan Alsem, as INTERLINK member Royal HaskoningDHV, said: “We’re thrilled to have been selected to win this prestigious award. This has been a significant development for our industry and it’s highly rewarding to have our work celebrated in this way.

“Our objective was to deliver an innovative approach in interoperability by linking existing open standards with the use of Linked Data and Semantic Web, which we successfully tested. Our next step will be to demonstrate this CEDR-INTERLINK approach to the European National Roads Authorities, and then begin to provide the linked data platform as a service.”

INTERLINK comprises a research institute (TNO from the Netherlands), engineering and asset management consultants (Royal HaskoningDHV from the Netherlands and ROD from Ireland), ICT consultants and software companies (AEC3 from Germany, Trimble Solutions Sandvika from Norway, interactive instruments from Germany, and Semmtech from the Netherlands), and a national BIM implementation body (planen-bauen 4.0 from Germany).

buildingSMART describes itself as a worldwide authority, driving transformation in construction through the creation of open, international BIM-standards.

The buildingSMART award organisers reported a record-breaking number of submissions for the 2018 awards. Winners were announced at the International Standards Summit in Tokyo on Tuesday 16 October 2018.

CEDR Project: Asset Information using BIM

Development of an European Road OTL and open exchange standard.

In September 2016 INTERLINK commenced a two-year CEDR (Conference of European Directors of Roads) research project into the use of BIM (Building Information Modelling) for information management during the delivery and operation of civil infrastructure. The consortium commissioned for the project, entitled INTERLINK, comprises a research institute (TNO from the Netherlands), engineering and asset management consultants (ROD from Ireland and Royal HaskoningDHV from the Netherlands), ICT consultants and software companies (AEC3 from Germany, Trimble Solutions Sandvika from Norway, interactive instruments from Germany, and Semmtech from the Netherlands), and a national BIM implementation body (planen-bauen 4.0 from Germany).

INTERLINK aims to launch a new pan-European initiative to provide NRAs and their supply chain with future-proof information management standards for the delivery and operation of infrastructure assets.The proposed solution will use the cutting-edge capabilities of Linked Data for a proposed European Road Object-Type Library. This approach will result in a system that is: 100% software vendor-neutral and open; applicable to the whole life-cycle and supply-chain of infrastructure assets; and focused on data exchange and sharing. Powerful Semantic Web technology will be applied to express infrastructure asset object-based information and knowledge on a European level. The system will be designed to integrate and reuse any existing and forthcoming BIM standards in flexible ways, thereby minimising obsolescence of earlier investments by NRAs.

Design and test a basic European object-type library and open BIM standards

The first phase of the project will involve extensive engagement with NRA asset managers and project managers, contractors, academics, consultants and software developers (sub-themes A and B). This will lead to a clear understanding of the current and future needs for how asset information is produced, formatted, accessed and processed for various life-cycle stages, contract-types and asset-types in European counties. After that a Proof of Concept will be developed and tests will be executed, linked to existing road information systems in four countries (sub-themes C and D). The European Road OTL will be freely available for other road information systems and will be introduced in national and international standardisation initiatives.

Agenda:

The 2018 edition of the INSPIRE conference will take place in Antwerp, Belgium, 18-21 September. The motto of this years’ event is INSPIRE users: Make it work together!

The European INSPIRE Directive leads to a digital highway for sharing information on Europe’s environment. Member states are rapidly extending this network to reach all levels of government and application areas beyond the environment. Now that we have this essential European facility in place, we can exploit it to the full to support the digital transformation of European society.

The call for submissions is organised in 3 strands

INSPIRE the Users: In this strand special attention goes to inspiring the usage and users of INSPIRE. Both public and private parties are invited to share their experiences with creating applications that benefit from INSPIRE.

Doing it Together: This strand is dedicated to 'cooperation'. We are looking for examples where the cooperation between public and/or private sector organisations and programmes has been successfully developed to support the implementation of INSPIRE.

Making it work: The strand adressess a more technical approach to ‘make it work’. We are calling for submissions where implementation issues have been identified and where the source of the problems has been - or needs to be - addressed (e.g. Simplifications encoding, Automatisations, quality assessment, etc.).